Implementation of the PLC-based Foundation Technology of Electric Power Control/Monitoring for Micro Grid

Abstract

Recently, in the Republic of Korea, Smart Grid, Micro Grid and IoT (Internet of Things) are at the center of discussion. Accordingly, various companies are competing to take the advantageous position by preoccupying technical patents and establishing their own standards to become a platform company for the Smart Homes, completing individual test bed experiments at the Smart Grid test beds Complex in Jeju Island. However, despite of a variety of product lines introduced to the market, their capacities are rarely being discussed academically and remain as popular subjects of study these days. Current research trend in both domestic and foreign studies has been focused on the subjects related to wireless communication technologies like WiFi and Zigbee or a typical cable communication technology like LAN, although the wireless communication technologies are now favoured more in terms of usability and cost-effectiveness as they do not require additional wiring works. That being said, at the last phase of Smart Home operation, one may encounter the problems in their reliability due to signal interference and attenuation and of course, it is not conceivable to use a cable-type communication like LAN for the Smart Homes. Thus, in this paper, we have implemented a foundation technology for the Micro Grid using the PLC technology. Proposed technology is fundamental to Smart Metering System which monitors, controls, and manages the household power flows, forming essential part of the Micro Grid system. The PLC technology applied here does not require extra installation works as it uses existing 220V power line(s) to transmit data so that we expect that it would supplement both wireless and cable-based methods.